Introduction to Algebra and Geometry Course Syllabus 2012-2013
Course Description
The 8th Grade Math curriculum focuses on the areas of mathematical practice, the number system, functions, geometry, statistics and probability, expressions, and equations. The AKS prepare students to understand the connections between proportional relationships and linear equations; work with radicals and integer exponents; define, evaluate and compare functions; investigate patterns in data; understand congruence and similarity; and solve real world problems involving the volume of spheres, cylinders, and cones.
· school agenda book
· #2 pencils
· erasers
· loose leaf notebook paper
· graph paper
· 3-ring binder with dividers
Weight of Grades
Classroom – Daily Work 25%
Classroom – Homework 5%
Classroom – Quizzes 10%
Interim Assessments 5%
Summative Assessments 45%
Final Exam 10%
mrgrahammath.weebly.com
It is very important that students utilize our class website. The site includes important test and assessment dates, a calendar of homework assignments and solutions, links to online textbooks and resources, video tutorials, and so much more. Please check this site often!
Help Day
Tutoring is available every Wednesday morning from 8:15 – 8:50 and often during other weekday mornings. Students are encouraged to use this time to get individual assistance and complete assignments missed due to absence. Additional morning (and afternoon) tutoring sessions will be announced in class each week.
Absences and Make-Up Work
It is the student’s responsibility to be aware of the activities and assignments missed.
· Students should copy any notes missed from a friend or the teacher.
· Homework and classwork should be completed and turned in within three days of returning to school. If you are absent for more than one day, an additional day will be included for each absence.
· If you are absent the day of a test or quiz, you must schedule a time to make up the assessment within three days of returning to school.
· Students absent the day before a pre-announced test or quiz are required to take the assessment as scheduled.
Saturday Academic Detention/ Late Work
Completing assignments is essential for student success. Students who fail to complete a graded assignment on time for Berkmar Middle School will earn Saturday Academic Detention. During this time, students will be expected to complete all missing assignments. Transportation will not be provided. Please note this includes students who were absent and did not complete missing assignments within three days.
Academic Recovery and Enrichment
Academic Recovery and Enrichment is designed to ensure that students are mastering the content and have the opportunity to promptly review areas of weakness. Following the common assessment for each unit, students will have two class periods for recovery or enrichment. Students scoring below an 80 on the assessment will review the first day and retest the next. Students scoring an 80 or higher will have an enrichment activity on those days.
Student Progress
Current grades are always available on the Parent Portal.
Classroom Rules
· Follow directions the first time given.
· Keep your hands, feet, and objects to yourself.
· Be on time with all materials and ready to work.
· Wait to be recognized before speaking.
· Follow all county and school rules and policies.
UNITS OF STUDY – FIRST SEMESTER
Unit 1: Expressions and Equations (AKS 13-14, 48-49)
Students will write and solve multi-step equations involving rational coefficients from a given situation and explain the process used to solve word problems.
Unit 2: Transformations (AKS 28-35, 50)
Students will verify the properties of transformations. They will be able to describe the effects of transformations, focusing on verifying congruence and similarity from transformations. Students will also be able to explain facts about angle properties, the angle sum and exterior angle of triangles, and the angle-angle criterion for similarity of triangles.
Unit 3: Exponents (AKS 3, 5-8)
Students will be able to apply the properties of integer exponents. They will understand how to express, compare, use operations, and interpret scientific notation.
Unit 4: Inequalities (AKS 48-49)
Students will write and solve inequalities involving rational coefficients from a given situation. The solution to these inequalities will be represented on a graph.
Unit 5: Radicals (AKS 1-2, 4, 27)
Students will distinguish between rational and irrational numbers, recognizing square roots as points on a number line. Emphasis will be placed on calculating small square and cube roots, as well as computing radical expressions.
Unit 6: Pythagorean Theorem (AKS 36-39)
Students will explain the proof of the Pythagorean Theorem. They will be able to apply right triangle properties. Through discovery, students will be able to explain and apply the distance formula and relate it to the Pythagorean Theorem.
Unit 7: Functions (AKS 19-21)
Students will understand functions and graphs. They will be able to compare properties of functions using verbal, tabular, graphic, and algebraic representations.
SECOND SEMESTER
Unit 8: Slope (AKS 9-11, 24)
Students will be able to graph and compare proportional relationships, interpreting the unit rate as the slope of the graph. Using similar right triangles, they will be able to explain why the slope is the same between any two distinct points on a non-vertical line.
Unit 9: Graphing Linear Functions (AKS 12-13, 25-26)
Students will be able to derive and graph linear equations, focusing on slope-intercept form. They will be able to give examples of functions that are linear and nonlinear.
Unit 10: Writing Linear Functions (AKS 23-24)
Students will be able to determine the equation of a line by constructing a function to model a relationship between two quantities. Students will determine and interpret this linear function in terms of the situation it models.
Unit 11: Scatter Plots (AKS 40-43)
Students will gather data that can be modeled, constructed, and interpreted as a scatter plot. Students will interpret the graph and estimate the line of best fit, recognizing clustering, outliers, and correlation.
Unit 12: Probability and Data Analysis (AKS 44-47, 51-58)
Students will examine compound simple events through experimental and theoretical probability. They will also recognize patterns of association and analyze data using various representations.
Unit 13: Systems of Linear Equations (AKS 15-18)
Students will solve systems of equations algebraically and estimate solutions by graphing the equations. Emphasis will be placed on real world problems.
Unit 14: High School Preview: Exponential Functions
A list of the specific AKS to be covered during the course is provided in the AKS booklet sent home with students on the first day of school. A complete listing of the AKS is also available online at gwinnett.k12.ga.us.
The 8th Grade Math curriculum focuses on the areas of mathematical practice, the number system, functions, geometry, statistics and probability, expressions, and equations. The AKS prepare students to understand the connections between proportional relationships and linear equations; work with radicals and integer exponents; define, evaluate and compare functions; investigate patterns in data; understand congruence and similarity; and solve real world problems involving the volume of spheres, cylinders, and cones.
· school agenda book
· #2 pencils
· erasers
· loose leaf notebook paper
· graph paper
· 3-ring binder with dividers
Weight of Grades
Classroom – Daily Work 25%
Classroom – Homework 5%
Classroom – Quizzes 10%
Interim Assessments 5%
Summative Assessments 45%
Final Exam 10%
mrgrahammath.weebly.com
It is very important that students utilize our class website. The site includes important test and assessment dates, a calendar of homework assignments and solutions, links to online textbooks and resources, video tutorials, and so much more. Please check this site often!
Help Day
Tutoring is available every Wednesday morning from 8:15 – 8:50 and often during other weekday mornings. Students are encouraged to use this time to get individual assistance and complete assignments missed due to absence. Additional morning (and afternoon) tutoring sessions will be announced in class each week.
Absences and Make-Up Work
It is the student’s responsibility to be aware of the activities and assignments missed.
· Students should copy any notes missed from a friend or the teacher.
· Homework and classwork should be completed and turned in within three days of returning to school. If you are absent for more than one day, an additional day will be included for each absence.
· If you are absent the day of a test or quiz, you must schedule a time to make up the assessment within three days of returning to school.
· Students absent the day before a pre-announced test or quiz are required to take the assessment as scheduled.
Saturday Academic Detention/ Late Work
Completing assignments is essential for student success. Students who fail to complete a graded assignment on time for Berkmar Middle School will earn Saturday Academic Detention. During this time, students will be expected to complete all missing assignments. Transportation will not be provided. Please note this includes students who were absent and did not complete missing assignments within three days.
Academic Recovery and Enrichment
Academic Recovery and Enrichment is designed to ensure that students are mastering the content and have the opportunity to promptly review areas of weakness. Following the common assessment for each unit, students will have two class periods for recovery or enrichment. Students scoring below an 80 on the assessment will review the first day and retest the next. Students scoring an 80 or higher will have an enrichment activity on those days.
Student Progress
Current grades are always available on the Parent Portal.
Classroom Rules
· Follow directions the first time given.
· Keep your hands, feet, and objects to yourself.
· Be on time with all materials and ready to work.
· Wait to be recognized before speaking.
· Follow all county and school rules and policies.
UNITS OF STUDY – FIRST SEMESTER
Unit 1: Expressions and Equations (AKS 13-14, 48-49)
Students will write and solve multi-step equations involving rational coefficients from a given situation and explain the process used to solve word problems.
Unit 2: Transformations (AKS 28-35, 50)
Students will verify the properties of transformations. They will be able to describe the effects of transformations, focusing on verifying congruence and similarity from transformations. Students will also be able to explain facts about angle properties, the angle sum and exterior angle of triangles, and the angle-angle criterion for similarity of triangles.
Unit 3: Exponents (AKS 3, 5-8)
Students will be able to apply the properties of integer exponents. They will understand how to express, compare, use operations, and interpret scientific notation.
Unit 4: Inequalities (AKS 48-49)
Students will write and solve inequalities involving rational coefficients from a given situation. The solution to these inequalities will be represented on a graph.
Unit 5: Radicals (AKS 1-2, 4, 27)
Students will distinguish between rational and irrational numbers, recognizing square roots as points on a number line. Emphasis will be placed on calculating small square and cube roots, as well as computing radical expressions.
Unit 6: Pythagorean Theorem (AKS 36-39)
Students will explain the proof of the Pythagorean Theorem. They will be able to apply right triangle properties. Through discovery, students will be able to explain and apply the distance formula and relate it to the Pythagorean Theorem.
Unit 7: Functions (AKS 19-21)
Students will understand functions and graphs. They will be able to compare properties of functions using verbal, tabular, graphic, and algebraic representations.
SECOND SEMESTER
Unit 8: Slope (AKS 9-11, 24)
Students will be able to graph and compare proportional relationships, interpreting the unit rate as the slope of the graph. Using similar right triangles, they will be able to explain why the slope is the same between any two distinct points on a non-vertical line.
Unit 9: Graphing Linear Functions (AKS 12-13, 25-26)
Students will be able to derive and graph linear equations, focusing on slope-intercept form. They will be able to give examples of functions that are linear and nonlinear.
Unit 10: Writing Linear Functions (AKS 23-24)
Students will be able to determine the equation of a line by constructing a function to model a relationship between two quantities. Students will determine and interpret this linear function in terms of the situation it models.
Unit 11: Scatter Plots (AKS 40-43)
Students will gather data that can be modeled, constructed, and interpreted as a scatter plot. Students will interpret the graph and estimate the line of best fit, recognizing clustering, outliers, and correlation.
Unit 12: Probability and Data Analysis (AKS 44-47, 51-58)
Students will examine compound simple events through experimental and theoretical probability. They will also recognize patterns of association and analyze data using various representations.
Unit 13: Systems of Linear Equations (AKS 15-18)
Students will solve systems of equations algebraically and estimate solutions by graphing the equations. Emphasis will be placed on real world problems.
Unit 14: High School Preview: Exponential Functions
A list of the specific AKS to be covered during the course is provided in the AKS booklet sent home with students on the first day of school. A complete listing of the AKS is also available online at gwinnett.k12.ga.us.